Illinois Dem Lt. Governor candidate forced to drop out of race

[jimmy olsen]

DAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMNNN!!!!!''

Now that's a guy who could have inspired some awesome attack ads! 

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2010/02/speaker-madigan-met-with-cohen-urged-him-to-quit-.html

Pawnbroker says he's dropping out of race
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UPDATE 8:38 p.m. - Quinn comment, Democratics to begin replacement talks

POSTED  by Kristen Schorsch and Rick Pearson

Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker whose surprise victory in last week's Democratic lieutenant governor primary was followed by scandalous revelations about him, quit the race tonight during the half time of the Super Bowl, saying he didn't want to "put the people of Illinois in jeopardy in any way."

Cohen made the tearful announcement at the Hop Haus tavern on the Far North Side. He spoke just hours after a spokesman for powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan, the state Democratic chairman, said Madigan had urged Cohen to quit in a private meeting Friday.

"For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and for the Democratic party, I will resign," an emotional Cohen told a crowd of reporters.

Cohen's candidacy was widely perceived as a potential disaster for Gov. Pat Quinn and the rest of the Democratic ticket in the November general election.

When Cohen became a candidate, he disclosed that a 2005 domestic battery charge against him had been dismissed. It was only after his victory Tuesday that the details became known: His girlfriend at the time, a prostitute, had accused him of holding a knife to her throat but had failed to appear in court, leading to charges being dropped.

More revelations followed last week: Cohen admitted injecting anabolic steroids, was accused of failing to pay child support even while he put at least $2 million into his campaign, and was identified as the target of dozens of lawsuits over back taxes.

Cohen at first adamantly refused to quit, doing a series of media interviews to present his position that the allegations against him were overblown and that he had been transparent about his background when he first got in the race in early 2009. But he was drowned out by a chorus of Democratic calls for him to quit.

"Tonight he has made the right decision for the Democratic Party and the people of Illinois," Quinn said in a statement released through his campaign office. "Now we can continue to focus our efforts on putting the economy back on track and working to bring good jobs to Illinois."

Steve Brown, Madigan's spokesman, said work would begin soon on picking a replacement.

"The speaker is prepeared to work with the members of the (Democratic) State Central Committee, Gov. Quinn and Senate President (John) Cullerton to work on selecting a replacement," Brown said. "We'll start with members of the central committee and work on ideas."

Selection of a replacement to fill the ballot vacancy is the work of the 38-member Democratic State Central Committee, made up of a male and female representative from each of the state's 19 congressional districts. The state central committee is scheduled to meet March 17, though a meeting could be held sooner.

As fans screamed at large mounted flat-screen TVs in the main bar and restaurant area of the Hop Haus tavern, 7545 N. Clark in Rogers Park, Cohen and his family chose a side room to announce his decision.

Cohen's sons Jacob, 11, and Zachery, 17, joined him, along with fiancee Karen Reisman, and her son Brandon, 18.

As Cohen made his announcement, he and his family sat at a square table covered in a checker tablecloth, clutched each other and sobbed.

"When I decided to run for lieutenant governor I did it with my heart and my soul. I thought that by opening up my life I could represent the people in a fair, honest, loving, caring way. ... On my election, it went crazy. The last thing I ever, ever wanted to do was to put the people of Illinois in jeopardy in any way."

"There is uncertainty that if I continue to run that the Democrats will win in November. Many people came out to support me when I announced. The Democratic Party didn't, but many people did. This is the hardest thing that I've ever had to do in my life."

Cohen paused to gain his composure before continuing.

"For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and for the Democratic Party, I will resign," Cohen said. "It's my hope, and I pray with all my heart, that I didn't hurt the people that I love so much. All I ever wanted to do ... was to run for office and to help the people, not to cause chaos. That was never my intention."

Attempting to rebut criticism that the Illinois Democratic Party should have done more to prevent Scott Lee Cohen's nomination for lieutenant governor, Brown said earlier today that Madigan met with Cohen on Friday and urged him in a "very direct and very frank" way to drop his candidacy.

Brown was unable to characterize Cohen's response to Madigan during the meeting in Madigan's Chicago law office. He said the meeting had previously been kept under wraps to avoid the appearance of backing Cohen into a corner.

But Brown said he believed the meeting should be publicized after Madigan has become the subject of criticism for failing to do background checks on the candidates for lieutenant governor, including Cohen.

The state central committee is not bound to select any of the candidates who lost to Cohen in last week's primary. State Rep. Art Turner of Chicago, a member of Madigan's House leadership team who was backed by the powerful Southwest Side lawmaker, finished second to Cohen.
Even before Cohen stepped off the ticket, some Democratic leaders said privately that they would like to expand a search beyond the primary election contenders and look to fill the vacancy to provide some regional balance--namely a downstate resident.

Currently, all of the nominees on the Democratic statewide ticket come from Chicago—a point Republicans have used in the past to contend that city-controlled politics dominates state policy.
Republicans faced a similar problem on their statewide ticket in 2004, when the primary-elected nominee for U.S. Senate, businessman Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race amid damaging disclosures contained in his divorce file.

The Illinois GOP held an open casting call for the post but ended up settling on controversial conservative Republican activist Alan Keyes from Maryland to run as the nominee. Keyes was swamped by then-state Sen. Barack Obama in the 2004 general election.

Turner, said he would make a case to the state central committee that he was the most qualified of those who sought the lieutenant governor nomination—but that his second-place finish should not automatically give him the spot.

"I don't think it ought to be an automatic. The fact that you finished second, I would not want to set a precedent for that," Turner said. "What I'm saying is that of the people interested in the job-- others could have expressed an interest but didn't--I am the most qualified."

Ryan dropped from the ticket in late June and the GOP didn't pick Keyes as a replacement until early August. Democrats, however, could actually benefit from the early February primary by quickly forging a new teammate for Quinn to try to put Cohen's nomination behind them before general election voters tune into the fall contests.

Still, Republicans are expected to use the Cohen debacle, on top of the scandal that put Quinn in office—the ouster of disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich—to campaign against the Democrats' one-party rule of state government.

"It will be among the things we'll bring up," said Pat Brady, the state's Republican chairman. "We'll point out what the Democrats have done to get this state where it is. But it's more important to have our candidates talk about what we're going to do."

[Jaron]

pawned?

[Caliga]

Par for the course in Illinois politics. 

[Fireblade]

What is it with Chicago Jews?

[Eddie Teach]

Now that's a guy who could have inspired some awesome attack ads! 

I doubt he'd have polled well enough to inspire any attack ads.

[Darth Wagtaros]

The Democrats are a scandal machine!

[merithyn]

The Democrats Illinois Politicians are a scandal machine!

FYP

[Hansmeister]

No wonder Obama was considered a political genius in Chicago. 

It's funny how the msm completely missed this story, I guess it helps having a (D) after your name. 

[Jaron]

It is a non issue.

[Sheilbh]

It's funny how the msm completely missed this story, I guess it helps having a (D) after your name. 

How did they miss the story, exactly?

[katmai]

It's funny how the msm completely missed this story, I guess it helps having a (D) after your name. 

How did they miss the story, exactly?

Shelf, shame on you for forgetting who you responded to.

[Hansmeister]

It's funny how the msm completely missed this story, I guess it helps having a (D) after your name. 

How did they miss the story, exactly?

As in not reporting it until the GOP had made it a campaign issue, even though it was a matter of public record and his campaign had made a press release earlier in the campaign.  This is why the American press is such a fucking joke, they're just political shills. 

Just like all the scandals surrounding the global warming fraud, you have to read the british press to even hear that there have been a series of revelations coming out of the leaked emails and out of the widespread use of fake data in the 2007 IPCC report.  In the UK the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the Guardian and the Independent have all covered the scandals, in the US it has been a wall of silence.  This is why most of the US press is going out of business.

[Sheilbh]

As in not reporting it until the GOP had made it a campaign issue, even though it was a matter of public record and his campaign had made a press release earlier in the campaign.  This is why the American press is such a fucking joke, they're just political shills. 

From a google search I can find MSNBC, NYT and Wash Post stories about it the day after his victory and three stories from the Chicago press saying that immediately after his victory in the primary Pat Quinn has faced a 'barage' of media questions.

When did the GOP draw attention to this story?

[DontSayBanana]

From a google search I can find MSNBC, NYT and Wash Post stories about it the day after his victory and three stories from the Chicago press saying that immediately after his victory in the primary Pat Quinn has faced a 'barage' of media questions.

When did the GOP draw attention to this story?

Obviously, it doesn't count as "reporting" until Hans bothers to read it.  If a tree falls in the forest and Hans isn't around to hear it, did a tree fall at all?